Business Analysis Practitioner – 240 Practice Exam Question

Purpose: This practice test course is designed to help candidates prepare for the practitioner-level business analysis practice exam. It focuses on developing the skills required for pre-project work, ensuring alignment with business objectives and effective strategic business analysis.

Syllabus Content

Strategic Context for Business Analysis (20%)

Purpose and importance of an organisation's vision and mission.

Techniques for analysing internal (VMOST, resource audit) and external environments (Porter's Five Forces, PESTLE).

Preparing a SWOT analysis and measuring performance using tools like the balanced scorecard, CSFs and KPIs.

Analysing and Managing Stakeholders (20%)

Activities for engaging stakeholders: identifying, challenging, informing and negotiating with stakeholders.

Identifying stakeholder categories using the stakeholder wheel and analysing perspectives using CATWOE.

Mapping stakeholders on the power/interest grid and choosing appropriate management strategies (RACI charts).

Analysing the Current State (15%)

Methods for researching the business situation: background research, interviews, workshops, observation and document analysis.

Identifying advantages and disadvantages of investigation techniques and using tools like customer journey maps, empathy maps and mind maps to represent findings.

Establishing the Target State (15%)

Constructing and using Business Activity Models (BAM) and understanding the need for a consensus BAM.

Explaining business events (internal, external, time-based) and creating target operating models (TOM) using the POPIT™ framework and gap analysis.

Designing and Defining the Solution (15%)

Stages of Design Thinking: empathise, define, ideate, prototype, evaluate and create.

Using divergent and convergent thinking (Double Diamond model) and performing gap analysis to identify differences between current and target states.

Evaluating feasibility (business, technical, financial) of proposed solutions.

Developing a Business Case (15%)

Purpose and contents of a business case: introduction, management summary, description of the current state, options considered, impact assessment, risk assessment and recommendations.

Identifying tangible and intangible costs and benefits, analysing risks, and understanding financial appraisal techniques (payback, discounted cash flow, net present value).

Relating the business case to the business change lifecycle.

Examination Format

Type: 40 multiple choice and multiple response questions.

Duration: 60 minutes.

Pass Mark: 26 out of 40 (65%).

Recommended Reading

Business Analysis (4th Edition) by Debra Paul and James Cadle.

Business Analysis Techniques: 99 Essential Tools for Success by James Cadle, Debra Paul and Paul Turner.

Agile and Business Analysis by Lynda Girvan and Debra Paul.

Business Analysis Techniques: 123 Essential Tools for Success by James Cadle, Debra Paul, Jonathan Hunsley, Adrian Reed, David Beckham and Paul Turner.